Filling The Void

Filling the Void

I lift my hands to you in prayer. I thirst for you as parched land thirsts for rain. Psalm 143:6

Within each of us is a God-shaped void that nothing, absolutely nothing, can fill except the Lord himself. Someone described this inner void as a curious, wild pain, a searching for something beyond what the world contains. As parched, dry land thirsts desperately for rain, so our souls thirst to fill this aching void in our hearts, searching and trying everything except God. Fame can’t fill the vacuum, even if we appear on the cover of People magazine as the world’s most beautiful woman, win an Academy Award for best actress, or become the newest American Idol. Wealth can’t fill the void or quench our thirst, even if we make millions and end up on the Forbes list of the richest people in America. We can use our wealth to buy a mansion, a fancy vehicle, or an entire fleet of luxury cars. But those material things will not fill the inner void.

We can try to quench our thirst for God with human love relationships, professional achievement, or academic prowess. But this doesn’t fill the vacuum either, even if we hold three earned PhDs and teach at Harvard. Power won’t do it; no matter how influential we are, even as the president of a corporation or of the nation, the void remains. No matter where we search, we’ll find that the fountains of wealth, fame, beauty, achievement, or relationships don’t bring lasting fulfillment. Nothing truly satisfies until our hearts are connected with the God who created us and his Spirit comes to live within us.

What a wonderful thing that God has made us for himself and given his own Son so that we can enjoy a relationship with him that will fill the yearning of our souls, quench our inborn spiritual thirst, and bring endless joy, both now and for eternity. Will you thank him today for his indescribable gift? —CHERI

Father of lights, how I thank you for making us for yourself and for sending your Son to open the way for us to know and love you. Thank you for the God-shaped void you created in me that nothing and no one but you can fill.

Naught but God can satisfy the soul.

—PHILIP JAMES BAILEY (1816–1902), ENGLISH POET